Arsenal boss Unai Emery chose not to sign Leicester star Caglar Soyuncu in 2018 summer transfer window because of Calum Chambers
Caglar Soyuncu was reportedly a transfer target for Arsenal last summer.
While still a Frieburg player, the 23-year-old even openly admitted his desire to move to north London.
He said: “I hope I go to Arsenal.
“I really want to play in the Premier League, but everything depends on the team.”
Soyuncu ended up joining Leicester in a £19million deal from Freiburg ahead of the 2018/19 campaign after Arsenal boss Unai Emery decided against signing him.
claim Emery felt he did not need another centre-half after Calum Chambers had impressed him in training.
However, Chambers was shipped out on loan to Fulham, who were relegated in their first season back in the Premier League.
Manchester City, who are short on centre-backs following a serious knee injury to Aymeric Laporte, were also believed to be interested in Soyuncu.
Now, Arsenal could regret not bringing Soyuncu in after his solid start to the new season.
The 23-year-old has played every minute of Leicester’s Premier League campaign so far, with Brendan Rodgers’ side sitting in third place.
Despite starting just four top-flight games last season, Soyuncu has seamlessly filled the void left by Harry Maguire, who became the world’s most expensive defender after joining Manchester United for £80million earlier this summer.
LIVE on talkSPORT
Check out all the live commentaries coming up across the talkSPORT network this week
- Portsmouth vs Southampton (Tuesday, 7:45pm) - talkSPORT
- Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest (Tuesday, 7:45pm) - talkSPORT 2
- MK Dons vs Liverpool (Wednesday, 7:45pm) - talkSPORT
- Manchester United vs Rochdale (Wednesday, 7:45pm) - talkSPORT 2
- Stoke vs Nottingham Forest (Friday, 7:45pm) - talkSPORT 2
- Sheffield United vs Liverpool (Saturday, 12:30pm) - talkSPORT
- QPR vs West Bromwich Albion (Saturday, 12:30pm) - talkSPORT 2
- Chelsea vs Brighton (Saturday, 3pm) - talkSPORT 2
- Everton vs Manchester City (Saturday, 5:30pm) - talkSPORT
Last week, Rodgers singled out Soyuncu for special praise.
He said: “It’s only when you work closely with him when you appreciate his qualities.
“For a modern-day centre-half, he’s what you’d want.
“He firstly wants to defend, he’s aggressive in the air, he wants to defend forward, physically he’s got good strength, he’s quick and covers the ground well and he can play."
LATEST FOOTBALL NEWS
Leicester legend Gary Lineker also appears to be a big fan of Soyuncu.
After the Foxes’ 2-1 win over Tottenham on Saturday, Lineker tweeted: “Seems clear now why @LCFC didn’t bother reinvesting the @HarryMaguire93 fee for another central defender.
“They knew how good Soyuncu is. Deserves the dots above his name.”